Father
by Rubygirl283
Summary: Vexen always wished Zexion would be more accepting of the fact Vexen practically raised him. Rated T for alcohol, violence, and tragedy.


Vexen sat, staring at the computer screen. He was analyzing his results from the latest experiment when he heard a small noise - a shuffle. He turned his weary eyes to the entrance of his lab and in the darkness, he spotted Ienzo... Zexion.

Zexion swayed slightly, then stumbled towards him. His face was flushed bright red, and in one hand, he held an empty green bottle. Vexen had never seen him like this.

"Zexion, are you drunk?"

"Don't I even merit a hello, Even?" Zexion dragged his feet closer so that he was standing next to where Vexen was sitting. The light of the computer screen created deeply contrasting shadows on Zexion's face.

"Zexion..." Vexen looked up at him, disturbed. "Zexion, you know that we have to call each other by our Organization names now. I'm Vexen now. Not Even. What have you been doing? How many of those have you had?"

Vexen reached out for the green bottle and Zexion recoiled by holding the bottle up by the neck over his head. A look of fear and violence gripped his face as his hand over his head shook. Vexen flinched, and Zexion's hand slipped and the bottle crashed and shattered on the floor, throwing flashes of green on the walls from the reflecting light.

"I don't want to call you Vexen. You're Even."

Vexen sat back in his chair, eyeing Frozen Pride beside him. If Zexion got violent again, would he be able to grab it in time?

"I know, Zexion... I know. In my mind, you'll always be Ienzo. But now that we're different, our names symbolize the change as well. We're all working hard to get ourselves back to where we were."

Zexion brushed away some of the glass on the floor and sat down, crossing his legs like a child, and looked up at Vexen. "I don't feel different. I still feel like Ienzo."

"And I still feel like Even. But we're not."

Zexion stared at his boots. "Do you remember the day we met?"

Vexen chuckled softly. "Of course I do."

Zexion's head swiveled up at Vexen. He was scowling. "Then tell me. What do you remember?"

"Well... it's a little fuzzy. But... I remember... your house had burned down. Ansem had brought you in to me while I was in the lab. He told me to take care of you for the time being, and I agreed. Since then, you've been a great help in the lab."

"So I'm nothing better to you than a lab assistant?"

Vexen frowned. "No, Zex -"

"Dad, you've raised me since I was six. I have barely any memories of my real parents, and they don't matter to me. I've learned more with you than with anyone else I've ever known, you were there for me when times were rough and I didn't say a whole lot, and I've started rethinking it. I want to call you Dad. Not Even. Definitely not Vexen."

Vexen gaped at Zexion. He was seventeen on the twentieth of October, which wasn't too far away.

Then, he started to think back about his past... as a child, Even hadn't been popular. He had been the nerd. Of course, he was the nerd. But he always had this image in his mind: a wife and a child and a nice, large house. With the pay he had been getting for research it would have been no problem. But he had never achieved it.

Then, Ienzo was dropped into his care with Ansem. Ienzo had been a timid little boy, and Vexen had been frustrated at first because he refused to talk to him, or barely acknowledge him, but as time went on, Ienzo had begun talking and showing and really living again. Vexen would take him out for ice cream and they'd sit and talk in Radiant Garden about life and research and they'd just have a good time. Even had thought of Ienzo as the son he had never had, though he didn't dare call him "son," afraid of what the boy would think. But, anyhow, he had been content with life.

After that, there was the accident. Ienzo and Even were no more. It was now Zexion and Vexen. Their sudden distancing was chilling. Zexion rarely visited the lab. Vexen spent his nights alone, doing research alone, and eating microwaved frozen meals alone. They saw each other in the hallways occasionally, but didn't really acknowledge each other. Nobody else ever really talked about it, not even Xemnas, who remembered perfectly just how close the two had been.

Zexion stood up. "I guess you don't feel the same way, Vexen. Sorry I told you this. I'm just gonna go and drink some more. If I come back and spout the same shit, sorry. I'm already pretty wasted, actually, but I think a few more drinks won't hurt me any more than it already has." He added as he turned to leave, "I've never heard of a Nobody dying of liver disease, anyway." He hiccuped once and began to exit.

Vexen stood up. "Son, clean up your language. We don't say shit in the lab." He stepped forward once.

Zexion whirled around and threw his arms around Vexen's neck. "Oh, Dad!" He then began to cry shamelessly on his shoulder, and Vexen even shed a few tears himself.

After Zexion had cried himself out, he stood back, then looked at the glass shards on the ground. "I should clean this up. You're not wearing any shoes."

Vexen glanced at his bare feet, then carefully made his way to the broom and sweep pan in the corner of the room. Together, they cleaned the room up, and Zexion stumbled back to his room. Vexen went back to his room and slept fitfully, excited that Zexion really accepted him as a father.

In the morning, Zexion sat at the Organization's long dining room table, nursing his hangover with a cup of coffee. His face was thin and his skin was paper white, and he glared into his coffee with an intense expression.

Vexen and Zexion were the only ones up. Vexen grabbed a newspaper and a cup of coffee and sat down next to Zexion, smiling.

"How're you doing, Ienzo?"

Zexion looked at him with one eye, keeping the sour expression on his face. "What?"

Vexen frowned. "I... just..."

"Look, Vexen, I had a lot to drink last night, and I'm not really in the mood for chit-chat, I'm just gonna go, alright?" Zexion stood up, leaving his coffee on the table.

Vexen could feel the disappointment surging in his veins. "Do you remember coming to my lab last night?"

Zexion blinked once. "No, not really. Last thing I remember I was in the middle of a game of strip poker with Larxene and Luxord. It's a miracle I made it into bed last night. Why? Did I come to the lab?"

Vexen lost all courage to tell Zexion what had occurred last night in the lab. He said, "Yeah, it was nothing, though. I sent you on to bed is all."

"Oh. Sorry for disturbing you." Zexion grabbed at his mouth. "Oh god, not again." He ran out, presumably to puke up what alcohol was left in his system.

Vexen put the newspaper down and stared blankly into his coffee. "I can't believe it.." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't... God. It's not fair. It's not fair." He pounded once on the table, then picked up his coffee, threw the mug at the wall, and stalked out of the kitchen and headed to the lab, where he'd spend another night alone.


End file.
